New Balance is accelerating its Center East enlargement with 10-12 new shops deliberate this 12 months and a full omnichannel platform launching January 1, 2026, because the 118-year-old athletic footwear firm seeks to capitalise on surging regional demand.
The corporate is focusing on additional development in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, India and Morocco after establishing its first owned-and-operated retailer in Qatar below a brand new subsidiary, Senior Director Stuart Henwood mentioned in an unique interview with Arabian Enterprise.
“Our fast-paced development & enlargement is pushed by a transparent rising demand for premium athletic and life-style footwear throughout the area,” Henwood mentioned. “We’ve seen a surge in well being and wellness tendencies submit covid, coupled with a younger, dynamic inhabitants that values genuine manufacturers with a powerful function.”
The enlargement comes as athletic footwear demand throughout the Center East has strengthened following pandemic-driven wellness tendencies. New Steadiness is betting on what Henwood calls a “glocal” strategy, combining international model identification with native market adaptation.
The corporate lately launched region-exclusive merchandise together with its first Ramadan assortment and operates New Steadiness Run Golf equipment throughout the UAE. Advertising and marketing campaigns characteristic native personalities together with Saudi health coach Lulwa Al-Marri and comic Amy Roko alongside international athletes.
“Every of those markets gives one thing distinctive,” Henwood mentioned of the corporate’s goal territories. “The UAE is a cultural and retail hub with a extremely engaged client base that appreciates each efficiency and life-style choices. Bahrain exhibits a powerful urge for food for premium international manufacturers, whereas Morocco is experiencing fast urbanisation with a youthful demographic embracing international life-style tendencies.”
The technique displays broader client shifts within the area. “As we speak’s client prioritises authenticity, high quality, and model function over purely aspirational branding,” he mentioned.
“They’re on the lookout for manufacturers that align with their private values and supply merchandise that assist their well being, consolation, and self-expression.”
New Steadiness is balancing efficiency and life-style choices to seize what Henwood described as rising demand for merchandise that “seamlessly transitions between sport, work, and social settings.” Current launches embrace life-style silhouettes just like the 471 and 204, whereas efficiency merchandise just like the FuelCell Insurgent v5 goal the area’s increasing working group.
The corporate’s Made in US vary continues to enchantment to style-conscious customers in search of premium craftsmanship credentials.
“The rise of athleisure, wellness, and practical vogue has considerably boosted demand,” Henwood mentioned. “Customers are more and more on the lookout for footwear that seamlessly transitions between sport, work, and social settings.”
Whereas sustaining give attention to bodily retail, New Steadiness plans a complete digital integration by 2026. “Brick retail stays a key precedence for us as they supply immersive, brand-led experiences that digital alone can not replicate,” he mentioned.
The 2026 omnichannel launch will ship “a totally owned and operated brick and click on expertise within the UAE,” representing a major milestone because the firm opened its first regional owned-and-operated shops in 2021.
Wanting forward, Henwood sees alternatives in experiential retail and digital integration, whereas citing the problem of “staying agile amidst quickly altering client behaviors and market dynamics.”
The corporate plans region-inspired collections following the success of its Ramadan launch. “We see nice potential for future collections which are impressed by regional artwork, design, and heritage, permitting customers to see their identification mirrored in our merchandise,” Henwood mentioned.
New Steadiness’s five-year regional imaginative and prescient targets turning into “essentially the most genuine, community-led efficiency and life-style model throughout the area,” in line with Henwood.
“We wish to be recognized not only for nice merchandise, however for a way we have interaction with customers meaningfully,” he mentioned. “The MEAI is a various area and the very fact we now have a sub-regional hub within the UAE talks to the expansion & give attention to this area. We’re solely simply getting began.”